Ricky Gervais upcoming comedy This Side of the Truth (which is also his feature film directorial debut) has just received a release date, and this comes straight from the mouth of comedic genius himself. In the video we've embedded below that comes straight from his blog, Gervais and co-writer and co-director Matthew Robinson confirm that the title (which apparently has been the point of some contention online) is indeed This Side of the Truth, and that the film will be released on September 25, 2009.

If this is the first you've heard of what looks to be a promising Fall comedy, here's the simple rundown. The story is set in a world where the concept of lying doesn't exist and no one has ever lied, or even thought about lying. But one day, a writer (Gervais) discovers this deceptive ability and uses it for his own personal gain. What has me most excited about this one (besides Gervais involvement) is a cast that includes Jonah Hill, Jason Bateman, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Patrick Stewart, Christopher Guest, John Hodgman, Bobby Moynihan and Stephen Merchant.

Ricky Gervais had an underrated comedy last year in Ghost Town (if you haven't seen it, you need to) and this looks to be a great venture for him. My only problem with Ricky Gervais is despite his routine of being a downright prick being hilarious, part of me thinks he's actually like that. Combine that with the fact that he looks like a toad, and then I just start feeling bad for him. Not as bad as I feel for Mike Myers though.

On February 6, director Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas) sees his most recent stop-motion feature film hit theaters. Coraline follows the curious adventures of a young girl as she discovers a secret door in her new house that leads her to some sort of alternate version of her very own life. But this new version of her current life is somehow better, like a fairytale, that is until her alternative parents decide they want to keep her there forever.

Dakota Fanning voices the lead role of Coraline and Desperate Housewives Teri Hatcher and The Daily Show's John Hodgman step in as Coraline's real and alternate parents. The film is based on Neil Gaiman's children's book of the same name. Gaiman also wrote the novel turned film Stardust and co-wrote the screenplay for Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf.

Below we have the trailer that Neil Gaiman himself has been promoting and linking like crazy all over Twitter. His linking actually prompted me to ask him via Twitter, how much input he gets on trailers and posters promoting the film (I wasn't expecting much despite the fact he wrote the book). His answer: "I always get input. Sometimes my input 'That's dreadful,' and sometimes the reply is 'Tough.'" His short and concise answer is limited by Twitter's 140 character limit in micro-blog updates but the point is clear. It's really sad that when the creator of an intellectual property has the chance to see his work transformed into a new medium and he's completely disregarded at times. Obviously I don't know any of the key details, but this is definitely something I'm sure happens frequently with adaptations.

Anyway, the Neil Gaiman approved internet only trailer is embedded below. Enjoy!